Shattered | Hermione x Draco

Burning

Only four more days before we return to school. My trunk is already packed and I am not even looking forward to it. Too much has changed. I don't know how I will face the other Gryffindors, knowing what I did this summer. They will figure it out, I feel almost numb, I have changed too much.

We are sitting at the table for breakfast, joined by the Slytherins.

"I have one last task for you this summer, Hermione," the Dark Lord says to me.

"Yes, my Lord," I answer obediently.

"Do you still have contact with your parents?" he asks.

His question takes me by surprise, but I don't let it show. I have gotten good at that over the last few weeks, I have developed a neutral expression as a mask.

"No, my Lord. Not since before Christmas last year."

"I want to test your loyalty to me, to the cause. You are the only one with Muggle parents and I see how hard you worked this summer. I can see how much you have grown, maybe even stronger than some young Purebloods, definitely smarter than most," he compliments.

"Thank you, my Lord."

"I think you won't even blink twice about this last special task for you, dear Hermione. I want to locate your parents and you will kill them."

The words ring in my mind. The Gryffindor inside of me would beg and scream at him, but that part of me is gone. After the first time I tortured somebody it just left me completely. I am only driven by the will to survive and the fear of torture on myself.

"I will do anything for the cause, my Lord," I respond with obedience.

A map of the United Kingdom is conjured and spread out on the table. The Dark Lord holds his hand up, waiting for me to place mine in his. Without waiting I lay my hand in his with the palm up. He raises his wand and slashes a cut into my palm. Blood starts to pool and the Dark Lord waits a few moments before turning my hand above the map. The blood falls to the map and a spell is whispered.

He lets go of my hand and while I watch the blood gather on the map, I run my fingers over the cut. Using wandless and wordless magic, I let myself heal, knitting the skin back together. This is not the first time I have done this, sometimes during the training in the afternoon I got hit with different hexes that left bruises or cuts. I would heal myself in view of everybody, Not hiding the fact that I have the power to do such things.

Slowly the blood is moving over the map, not leaving a stain behind on the paper. It is moving closer to Hampstead and I can feel my heartbeat increasing. I frown as I watch the blood move past it.

"Maybe they have moved?" I offer quickly. "I have not contacted them, my Lord."

His red eyes focus on me as he stops his spell and grabs me by the throat and pushes inside of my mind. He is going fast, focussing on my parents but he doesn't find anything new. Showing him that I am speaking the truth. The intrusion in my brain only takes minutes, but a headache is already pounding.

"The spell will show us where they are," he snarls and shoves me back in the chair.

I gasp for air and can't keep my eyes off the map as he restarts the spell. The blood is gliding over the map and doesn't show signs of changing direction. It keeps moving even as it is off the map. Everybody is watching with curiosity.

There must be something wrong with the spell. They must be in the country, they never leave for a holiday this late in the summer. What if they have seen my silence as the opportunity to move to another country? I know they always wanted to live in Australia.